Organizational Life Cycle Assessment: method and results of the pilot phase

Organizations such as companies, NGOs and public administrations face increasing challenges in measuring and transparently reporting their overall environmental impacts. Common methods focus either on the environmental impacts... [ view full abstract ]

Organizations such as companies, NGOs and public administrations face increasing challenges in measuring and transparently reporting their overall environmental impacts. Common methods focus either on the environmental impacts at a plant or facility level (e.g. environmental management systems as in ISO 14001) or on a single indicator (e.g. WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol). In either case, improvements over time cannot be univocally attributed to a relief for natural environment and human health, since burden shifting to a supplier, to the use phase or to another environmental impact cannot be detected.

The Organizational Life Cycle Assessment (O-LCA) method addresses these limitations. O-LCA is a compilation and evaluation of inputs, outputs and potential environmental impacts of the activities associated with an organization (multi-impact approach). O-LCA is life cycle based, i.e. the whole value chain is considered, including the use and end-of-life phase of products and services. O-LCA is based on the product-related LCA method as in ISO 14040 and 14044. Methodological adaptations for the case of organizations are specified in ISO/TS 14072.

To promote and spread O-LCA, the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative launched the Flagship Activity “LCA of Organizations”. In the first and second phase, the Guidance on Organizational Life Cycle Assessment was compiled and consolidated by international experts. The document complements ISO/TS 14072 and provides detailed guidance to support decision makers, LCA experts, methodology developers and other stakeholders in understanding the method and putting it into practice. The focus of the Guidance is on the most challenging issues from a practitioner’s perspective: i) modelling the organization: activities are categorized throughout the supply chain into direct activities, indirect upstream activities and indirect downstream activities; ii) data collection approaches are proposed: bottom-up data collection if the data is available at the product level or top-down if data is available at the organizational level; iii) experience-based pathways: specific advice is provided to organizations with previous environmental accounting and management experience. Additionally, the Guidance delivers support in taking advantage from the analytical and managerial side-benefits of the study, communicating results and integrating O-LCA into management and decision systems.

As a third phase of the UNEP/SETAC Flagship Activity, 13 frontrunner organizations representing diverse sectors, geographical locations, size, and degree of previous environmental assessment experience are currently applying the Guidance’s instructions, with the aim of proofing O-LCA’s methodological challenges and potential, contributing to application experience and promoting O-LCA’s use. As a result, options for O-LCA application and need for methodological specification will be analyzed and lessons for future studies drawn.

We would highly appreciate the opportunity to present to the conference public: i) the main principles and methodological challenges of Organizational Life Cycle Assessment; ii) lessons learned from the road-testing activity; iii) results from the O-LCA study of the German automotive producer Daimler AG, involved in the road-testing. Finally, we would like to encourage the industrial ecology community to apply and communicate the O-LCA methodology and look forward to fruitful discussions and input from the Conference participants.